Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Chalkbag... er, pot...

With rain coming down nice and dreary yesterday, I had ample time in the morning to really buckle down and work on finishing the sewing portion of the chalk bag.I got the inner felt lining sewed together and sewed on the felt and canvas bottom, plus the requested few inches of canvas at the opening at the top in order to help keep the shape. I also sewed on guides for the cinch, stuck a gromit in a hole in the knitting, and hand stitched the bottom of the knitting to the bag. I thought it was looking pretty good when I finally put it down last night to go to ballet and swing, only missing the canvas lip and canvas straps for hooks. I was actually a little excited about how well it all went together, and had aspirations for quick and easy chalk bag construction in the future. I was so excited that it rubbed off when I told the recipient how close I was to finishing at swing night, and he insisted on viewing it. He was pretty excited with it, but mentioned how much... ahem... larger it was compared to most chalk bags. I had to agree. I'll show the comparison when I finally finish it, but it's a bit larger then conventional chalk bags. It's not as big as a chalk pot, but it's pretty close. He also requested that the drawstring be further up on the bag, so last night and this morning I've been using the seam ripper to go to town on the drawstring guides, and I made another gromit about an inch higher (I have to admit, I agree with him on this one- it'll help the bag aesthetically, too). Once that's done and the knitting sewn down, I'll make quick work of the last few details before I have the finished chalkbag. Since the actual sewing part was really pretty fast and simple, I may make him a "real" sized chalk bag with just a canvas exterior for everyday use (he kept saying how much he loves this one, but he may not strap it on all the time. It's huge. I forgive him.). I am pretty excited with how well this one has turned out so far, though. I may have to make one for myself. After, of course, I finish everything on the rest of my checklist. ::gulp::PS- Just a quick note- I am happy to report that Cheryl did fall victim to the Whisper Cardigan and was tempted by some Misti Alpaca in turquise- ha! I love helping other people be as doomed as me to the vortex of pretty knitting. :-D